This challenge was inspired by a reality TV series from several years ago called “Murder in Small Town X”. The idea is a murderer is on the loose in the town and several investigators have been sent in to track him/her down. They follow clues and two chosen investigators face the killer on a spooky lot. One will survive and escape with a clue. The other will die horribly. Let the challenge commence!

Sims Relationships in Exact Numbers
Entering Hhrelprint in the cheat panel will produce a list of household members, sorted by friendship level, with the exact score for each. Put the zip file into your mods folder (do not unzip).

TOWN SETUP
Set up a new town. I highly recommend Newcrest for this challenge. Having access to multiple lots will be helpful.

Initially, you will want to designate a lot for the inspectors' headquarters (I found an awesome looking skyscraper called “world spy headquarters” in the gallery). I put up a few easels, some work out equipment, added extra computer stations in that room, got rid of the pools (to avoid drownings), and created a “woohoo” room open to all. At the start, there should only be 5 beds (plus the woohoo room bed) and two napping areas. I placed a few “VIP Bucket” items around and enabled the flirty aura just to make things interesting. Finally, I cleared off the circular helipad thing for challenges.

Secondly, place the killer’s home. It can be on a small lot but should be a haunted-looking house. There are many in the gallery.

For the Day 2 investigation event, you will need to place some form of bar. I recommend going ahead and taking care of that now.

For the Day 3 confrontation, you will need a factory. I used the Willy Wonka factory in the gallery.

CHARACTER CREATION
Create 8 investigators. Each will need 2 good traits and 1 bad. The good traits should all be identical and not give any individual an unfair advantage (i.e. my sims were all outgoing and self-assured with a random bad trait like mean, hot-headed, snob, etc.)

Create the killer in a seperate household. He should look like a nut case (and have the traits to match). I think mine was named "Jeff the killer" or something like that on the gallery.

GENERAL SETUP & RULES
Make sure to turn aging off for everyone in town.

Start the challenge in any season.

There are no restrictions on money cheats. I started my sims out with 500k.

No one should have any reward traits purchased and everyone should be unemployed. Do not use skill cheats.

Go under the options for the violence mod and make the investigators excluded from being killed until they are chosen to confront the killer. This will avoid issues if they happen to run into the murderer randomly.

Do yourself a favor and eliminate reactions for all investigators to the violence mod. That way, if they see the killer off someone in the street (technically that never happens in the story) they won’t freak out.

I created a similar uniform as the main outfit for all of my investigators and gave each different colored hair (red, pink, purple). I then went in and named them after their hair color. Unless you know all the sims well in the challenge, this makes things a lot easier. Up to your discretion.

Occasionally the story will require that you set the investigators needs to full. You can do this by shift+clicking the desired sim, choose needs, and make happy.

Investigators should be left to their own devices unless absolutely necessary (i.e. someone is in danger of dying (i.e. extreme emotional state, fire, etc.) Any friendships they make (or fail to make) are on them. Do not direct them to interact with each other or any skill items. If they do so on their own, that’s fine. Mine all went nuts in the computer room and “trolled teh forums” for HOURS racking up a useless mischief skill (lol).

AFTER you have introduced all of the investigators to the killer on Day 1, have them return home and change to the killer’s household. Set him to autonomous deadly and non-deadly interactions (under options in the extreme violence menu). This way, when your detectives confront the killer, if one does get slapped or punched, it’s considered a “jump scare” and you won’t know for sure if the sim the killer is heading for is going to get jump scared or murdered. Don't be lame and mouse over the action to find out ahead of time.

For added flavor, enable autonomous and no strings woohoo (no pregnancies allowed throughout the challenge). You should consider them a “couple” and if they mess around with someone else later, the original partner will find out about it and it and it coul

Gameplay is handled in phases as follows:

Phase 1 - Investigation During Phase 1, the investigators may be sent out to gather information or use computers, etc. as indicated in the STORY section below. If a sim refuses to participate or goes home early, etc. then leave it as it stands. They are responsible for their own actions.

Phase 2 - Outcome The investigators with the lowest score from Phase 1 are potential targets to be sent to confront the murderer and risk death. Follow the directions for the day you are on in the STORY section as to how many to be counted in the losing group.

Phase 3 - The Vote
The remaining investigators (not in the bottom group) will vote on who should be spared. Use the mod to generate a scored list for each voter. Take into consideration any romantic relationships or other issues that might alter that person’s top pick.

--Example: There are 5 investigators remaining so the bottom 3 scorers from Phase 1 are candidates possibly being sent to confront the killer (we’ll call them Mike, Judith, and Jillian). The remaining 2 (top scorers) are voting. Joe has a great friendship rating with Mike; however, earlier today, he heard Mike was hitting on his girl. Instead, he’ll pick the closest friend of the remaining two, Jillian. Amy, the second voter, is more friendly with Judith and votes to keep her over Mike & Jillian.
--Result: Mike is definitely going. In order to decide if Judith or Jillian will join him, combine friendship scores with both voters (i.e. Joe has a score of 32 with Jillian and 15 with Judith. Amy has a 24 with Judith and a 19 with Jillian. Therefore Jillian has a combined score of 51 and Judith has 39). Judith and Mike are going.

Phase 4 - Confrontation
Go into manage worlds and modify a vacant lot for the confrontation as directed by the STORY section below. You can set it as a generic or another public lot. Now return to your HQ and have one of the confronting investigators travel there together with the other investigator and the killer. You will need to pause immediately and move the investigators to a location within the structure (usually the top floor or as far away from the entrance as possible). The lot should be large and contain at least 3 floors or multiple buildings, etc. to make it take a bit of time for the killer to find his prey. Both investigators should have a starting location an equal distance from the killer to be fair. Shift click both investigators and cheat their needs to make them happy. If anyone targeted anyone before they were moved, clear those actions before unpausing. BE WATCHFUL of the investigators and cancel any interactions they have (i.e. use a computer) or the killer will not target them. Sometimes it can't be avoided, but try to keep them from using beds, etc. Allow the murderer to enter the structure and immediately block/delete all entrances/exits to hold off other sims. DO NOT look at the actions (it’s more fun to see if the killer uses a lethal or non-lethal attack) After the murder, IMMEDIATELY pause and make the survivor unkillable again. Once the reaper takes the body, the survivor can be teleported outside the structure and sent home. The surviving investigator now has immunity for the next confrontation.

THE STORY
I have this set up with every even day being an investigation and the odd days as confrontations; however, if you finish an investigation early, you may opt to have the confrontation that same day if you wish. It will significantly reduce the time you spend watching them do their thing but they won't get as much opportunity to form relationships.

DAY 1 - FREE DAY
It’s greeting day. Send all 8 sims to meet the killer (make sure autonomous killing has not been enabled on the killer yet). Have each do a rude introduction and then immediately send them home. The rest of the day is spent however they like. You can speed up time as you see fit. You will need to change to the killer's household and enable autonomous lethal AND non-lethal actions under the extreme violence mod menu. Then switch back to the investigators.

DAY 2 - INVESTIGATION
Time to crack down and get to work. A murder was committed last night in a dimly lit alley near the local bar (add a bar to town if not already there). The call comes into HQ at 7AM. Wake everyone up and give them 1 hour to do whatever they want. At 8AM, send them to the bar. Give them 4 hours to interview witnesses. Do not interact with any of them directly during this time unless there is an emergency. If a few choose to spend the entire time drinking and dancing, so be it. Check their relationships panel and see how many new acquaintances they have (at the start, they should have had 8 including the killer, any additional are new). These represent witnesses interviewed. You need 4 losers so if you have a tie, you can send the other investigators home and leave the tied ones at the bar until the tie is broken. Mine was easy with 4 having +1 interview and 4 having done absolutely NO interviewing.

DAY 3 - CONFRONTATION
The bottom 4 investigators are now candidates for a confrontation with the murderer. At 6PM, have the higher scoring 4 vote on them and narrow down the 2 going on the confrontation. Witnesses confirm they saw someone fleeing the seen in a truck from a local factory. Add a factory to town and make sure to give it some nasty lot traits (i.e. haunted, filthy, etc.). At 8PM, invite the murderer and both investigators to travel together to the factory. Follow the instructions as outlined for Phase 4 above. Don’t forget to enable killing on the 2 losing investigators. Once everything is done and the survivor is home safe and sound, remove one of the single beds.

DAY 4 - INVESTIGATION
The killer left a note telling the investigators that there is a clue at a coffee shop. Add a coffee shop to town, go into edit mode, and place 3 tablets (called “The Slablet”) scattered throughout the area. The shop is being closed for the day so send the investigators there by 10AM. Immediately teleport the sims inside (shift+click on the spot) and delete all the entrances to prevent random sims. The first 3 to pick up the tablet get the clue. If someone picks up a tablet, have them set it back down and go into build/buy to delete it (as the clue on that tablet is now gone). The remaining 3 will be voted on (remember that your surviving sim is immune).

DAY 5 - CONFRONTATION
That morning, a cryptic message pops up on all the computers at the HQ and the killer informs everyone that he has left a clue at the town morgue. Enter manage worlds and add a morgue (I chose Le Rue Morgue from the gallery and placed my 2 investigators on the bottom floor underground as their starting location). Conduct the vote by 6PM and send the two lambs to the slaughter at 8PM along with the killer. When the survivor returns, delete a single bed.

DAY 6 - INVESTIGATION
Your surviving investigator found key evidence at the morgue (imagine that). The chief investigator wants a complete report from each investigator with their findings to date. At 10AM, send the investigators to write a book on the computer (children’s book). Once finished, check their inventories and see how much the book would sell for. The top 2 will become the voters for the next confrontation. If there is a tie, send the tied investigators back to the PC to continue writing or write another book if need be. If an investigator quits, he is giving up. Remember your immune sim.

DAY 7 - CONFRONTATION
As usual, conduct the vote at 6PM and determine who the two unlucky contestants will be. An envelope arrives with a note from the killer daring them to meet him at the town’s local haunted hotel. Travel there at 8PM and follow the usual routine. I opted for the Bluerose Haunted Hotel but you pick what you like. When the survivor returns, delete all but 1 single bed and the woohoo bed. Everyone else will be sleeping in uncomfortable spots or not at all.

DAY 8 - INVESTIGATION
There was a break in the case! A witness saw the killer enter the haunted hotel and now the investigators have to construct a drawing of his/her likeness. At 10AM, have the investigators meet for a drawing or painting contest. The investigator with the highest value artwork is safe (as is the immune sim). They will vote for the 3 lowest tomorrow. There will be no immunities once you reach the final four.

DAY 9 - CONFRONTATION
Conduct the vote. The killer has sent another message. It’s clear he is increasingly bolder and dares the 2 investigators chosen to meet him/her at the clock tower. You know the drill by now. Murder is afoot!

DAY 10 - OH NO!
The killer makes a bold move! Have the final four compete using the boxing bags. The first person to give up is the target. Send them (and the killer) to a park and disable their immunity. They interrupted the killer hacking a body to bits in the alley and before they could react, he/she charges them with a chainsaw (or whatever device the killer uses). We’re at the final 3!

DAY 10 - FINALE
The killer is laughing at the pitiful excuse of remaining investigators and attacks them at their HQ! Invite him/her over and allow all of them to be killable. The power goes out (turn all the lights off) and the investigators are stumbling around in the dark as the speaker system cracks with the sound of static. They hear "I'm coming for you" echo throughout the halls and they are all fearful for their life! Enable everyone to be killed and enable autonomous lethal and non-lethal actions. Everyone should be able to kill and be killed, this is a throw down! Obviously the investigators don't mean to kill each other; however, it's night, and the place is dark as hell. Accidents happen. The last one standing wins! The final 3 should start on the top floor as far apart from each other as possible. Good luck!

In my game, Mr. Green won. He shot the killer dead and then turned around and finished off the last living detective (Ms. Pink who I was rooting for all along). I had a blast testing this challenge, I hope you enjoy it as well.